Tennessee halts all scheduled executions
Tennessee’s top court has effectively called a halt to all executions in the state following legal challenges to the methodology to be used.
On Friday, the Tennessee Supreme Court postponed the death-sentence date for a fourth inmate. That means none of the more than 70 inmates currently on death row in Tennessee is scheduled for execution, according to the Associated Press and the Tennessean. Executions will be rescheduled once legal issues are resolved.
A shortage of execution drugs is part of the problem, caused by the reluctance of manufacturers and pharmacists to be involved in implementing the death penalty. Meanwhile, replacement formulations are controversial.
Although the state legislature last year reinstated the electric chair as a lawful execution method, it also is now the subject of a legal challenge.
